How Often Should I Change My Oil?

Changing your vehicle's oil at the recommended intervals is the best thing you can do to ensure it has a long life. As simple as this task may sound, many people are confused about exactly how often their car's oil needs to be changed.

While you can always change your oil on your own, at our dealership we offer fast oil change service at a fair price, allowing you to go about your day without breaking your wallet.

How Often To Change Your Oil?

In the past, it was standard for oil changes to occur every 3,000 miles, or three months, whichever came first. Now, that standard does not always apply. Oil quality has improved over the years, and the automotive industry has begun to take driver’s travel and driving habits into account when making recommendations. As such, how often you change your oil should depend on you personal driving habits.

If you use the car only for short trips on city streets, particularly in cold weather, you probably should have the oil changed every three months. Why? On short trip, the engine doesn't reach its proper operating temperature, which can cause condensation of water inside the crankcase and oil can be diluted by gasoline.

If you mostly use your car for occasional longer trips, it is acceptable to wait six months or more to change the oil.

One thing you should absolutely consider when deciding when your oil needs to be changed is your car warranty. Many manufacturers specifically require warranty holder to change the oil based on time. If this is the case for you, it is worth it to change the oil according to the guidelines until the warranty expires. If your engine needs a warranty-covered repair in the future, your manufacturer might decline to cover it if you didn’t follow their recommended timeline for oil changes. To avoid a headache, follow their recommendations.

Another reason why the manufacturer’s recommendations are worth considering is that the automaker has done extensive testing on your vehicle’s engine to define the recommendation. Their recommendations are based on lab and real-world driving to determine how it performs under many conditions. Through that testing, they have developed a set of guidelines for maintenance and the frequency of oil changes.

If you have lost your owner's manual, you can give us a call at (931) 266-0005

If you're still unsure about when it's the right time to change your oil, feel free to contact our service department. Our certified technicians will be happy to help.